<p>“The Trustees agreed to continue the financial aid budget at substantially the same level for next year” sounds to me like continuing from last year, which was 2009, but you could be right - FA students/families of 2010 were luckier than those of 2009.</p>
<p>As for your question about need-blind, my understanding is that need-blind only defines how financial neeed is not considered when admission decision is made, how many admitted students end up receiving FA actually has more to do with how admission is conducted. If high test scores, good grades from respectable schools and extracurricular activities of high qualities are emphasized, then there is a natural tendency that more wealthier, upper-middle or middle class kids would have a better chance of getting in as they are the ones who have more resources to access those opportunities. Schools like A & E actually have to “purposefully” reach out to kids from different background and stand out in unconventional ways, and that’s why they end up giving out so much FA. Also, think about how they routinely exceed the EFC for families who have financial need. Apparently they are not trying to reduce the percentage of FA students or even the amount of the FA.</p>